Harry Potter and the Eighth Soul
by DarkTaoAngel
Summary: There are seven souls to lord Voldemort, his own soul, and six horcruxes. Then he announces the making of a new horcrux, placed inside of the very thing that could force Harry Potter to admit defeat at Voldemort's wand. R&R, please!
1. Conversing in Murmurs

DarkTaoAngel: I do not own Harry Potter; this is just my rendition of the seventh Harry Potter book, and what I think that it will be about. Please review!

It was night, the moon reflected on the few passing figures crowding the desolate graveyard. The hustled past a large gravestone, hurriedly scurrying to take on their important tasks. They all wore masks, and their attire could not be seen past their coal-black cloaks, which whipped behind them in their haste. They all seemed to be going somewhere, but none of them seemed to be getting anything done. Perhaps it was due to their nervous rush, as their master stood atop a large statue, watching them like a hawk.

Their lord was a tall man wearing a long fluttering cloak, longer than the other ones. Had his face not been hidden in shadow, it would have been seen that he had an oddly snakelike face, with slits for nostrils. He occasionally shouted commands at his subjects as he towered above them all on the statue, beside the grave of his muggle father. His piercing red eyes were the cause of the shifty behavior in his subjects or, as he referred to them, Death Eaters.

"M-master, now that Dumbledore is g-gone, sir, Harry Potter will be searching for the remaining h-h-horcruxes, won't he? Why not just k-kill him now, sir, since he is no l-longer at Hogwarts?" one of the dark lord's most loyal Death Eaters, whose name was Peter Pettigrew, but is now known as his old school nickname, Wormtail asked curiously; his voice shook with every word he said.

His master focused his piercing gaze upon him, revealing his half-hooded face, with every once of anger etched upon his inhuman face. He smiled sadistically and let out an incredibly high maniacal laugh, which stopped many of the other Death Eaters in their tracks. He cast evil glances at them all, and they went back about their own businesses. He rounded his gaze back at Wormtail before looking him in the eye and speaking.

"Because, Wormtail, Harry Potter is still living in the constant company of many friends. If we were to kill him in their presence, we would create a scene, and the Ministry of Magic would most certainly become involved. However, with Potter searching for the remaining horcruxes, he could pose as a certain threat to me. I agree that he must be stopped, and believe me, I do have a plan. Potter will be dead soon, and the best part is, no one will be around to know about it!" the dark lord Voldemort's voice was just as high pitched as his laugh, which continued as soon as he was finished speaking to Wormtail. His slitted eyes scanned the area again, as Wormtail silently edged out of his master's view.

"Attention! All of you listen up! I have some important news that I wish for all of you to hear." The graveyard bustle quickly came to an end. All of the surrounding area was silent, as all gaze averted to lord Voldemort. He scanned through the circle of Death Eaters around him. Many of them were missing, either dead, imprisoned, or too cowardly to join him again. It did not matter to him in the least, if they were not already dead, they certainly would be once he tracked them down.

"I see many missing Death Eaters. Pity, they will have to be punished. However, all of you are loyal, as far as I can tell, though I can sense a contrast of fear before me this evening." His eyes rounded and paused for a moment upon Wormtail, who flinched upon immediate gaze.

"I have called you all here to discuss the impending death of Harry Potter, 'the boy who lived', though not for much longer," he chuckled for a moment, as a few Death Eaters joined in a little, "However, the path to Potter's death shall not be easy. It will take intricate strategy, and for those of you who are truly trustworthy, you will know what to do without instructions.

"Now, all of you are aware of the famed horcruxes. Whenever I commit a murder, I may choose to create one. I then seal each into something of significance to me. As all of you should know, I have six of these said horcruxes. Dumbledore knew of them, and tried to destroy all of them. He and Potter managed to shatter the remains of two of them. Now that Dumbledore is gone, it is up to Potter to finish me off, as if he ever could." The other Death Eaters laughed slightly at this dark comment, but Voldemort quickly shot them each with another deep glare, and they immediately stopped their laughter.

"But what many of you don't know, and I highly doubt any of you know, is that there is one other way to transplant a horcrux. If the horcrux is in the shell of an item, and the item is entered, or opened, the horcrux can be transferred to any other item I choose. After the death of a man named 'Sirius Black', Potter's godfather, I was able to create this new, more powerful horcrux. It is more powerful because it is my seventh horcrux, and the number seven is a very powerful and magical number. I have pre-chose the place in whence this seventh horcrux, the one that was sealed in a locket, should seal itself in."

At this many of the Death Eaters shouted, 'Where is it? What did you seal it in?', with much anxiety and curiosity. Many knew their lord well enough to know that if it was so important that he had called them all there to tell it to them, it must have been a very important find indeed. They all held their breath as he continued.

"The place in which this horcrux has been hidden will be either the winning, or the inevitable downfall, of the 'great' Harry Potter. The seventh horcrux has been hidden in…"


	2. Worried Thoughts

Many miles away, at the Weasley's house 'The Burrow', a boy named Harry Potter awoke with a start. His emerald-green eyes traced the room. His best friend Ron was sleeping soundly on the bed next to his, Chuddly Cannons pictures littering the walls around them both. He was staying at the Weasley's for the remainder of the summer, having been invited there a week previous by an anxious Ron, and a very flustered Ginny. Harry and Ginny were still going out, and Harry had not dropped out of Hogwarts yet; he needed more information about Voldemort before he could continue trying to defeat him. He figured that he could go to Hogwarts for a few weeks, so that his friends would not worry about him, and when he was able to get his hands on one of the horcruxes, he would have to leave, possibly forever.

Harry ran his hand over his head, smoothing out his unkempt jet-black hair. It was foolish of him to worry about something so little. He had had another dream, one about Voldemort, the darkest wizard of all. Harry was worried at first, but after seeing Ron, asleep without a care in the world, he let out a small laugh and fell back unto his pillow. Everything was fine here, and there was nothing to worry about. Voldemort was no where to be seen, it was just another dream, nothing more.

He'd had these dreams before, and this particular one many times in fact. It was as Dumbledore had told him before, he could see into Voldemort's thoughts, as though they were one. But Dumbledore… this dream was different, much more recent. Voldemort was conversing to the Death Eaters about his death, and about a seventh horcrux. Dumbledore had said that there were only six horcruxes, but even Dumbledore was wrong sometimes, after all, he had trusted Severus Snape. And what was the seventh horcrux sealed into? One that was so important to Voldemort that he would call all of his Death Eaters to him to tell them?

Ron grunted peacefully in his sleep somewhere to Harry's left, reminding him that he should probably go back to sleep, so as not to wake anyone. But he committed the entire dream to his memory, he would need to tell someone about it later, to make sure that it was not big deal, and not something incredibly dangerous. But still, where could the seventh horcrux be? Could it be in the place Harry least expected, or right under his nose?

The next morning was all a rush, nothing less than a blur to Harry. It was time to go back to Diagon Alley again to get school supplies, though Harry highly doubted that he would be at Hogwarts long enough to use much of what he bought. Mrs. Weasley suggested that he did anyway, insisting that 'the whole He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named thing could wait until the end the first semester, at least.'

Harry highly doubted that he would even stay at Hogwarts for the first month, but he did not want to upset Mrs. Weasley, nor did he want to worry his friends. The truth was, he was in denial the whole time, from the part where he first found out about everything he was destined to do, and exactly how hard it was going to be for him.

Deep down he was extremely worried, especially about his own life, but he hid that feeling. He knew about the prophesy, the one involving Voldemort and himself, and he knew that it was his fate to take on Voldemort, just as the prophesy said; but thinking things and doing them are very different things. He could 'act the hero' now, but what was to happen when he was left alone, face to face with Voldemort, and battling for his own life?

Harry tried to push it all out of his mind, it was the least he could do to make his time with his friends, and their time with him, more enjoyable. Though it still was hard to think that this might be his last trip to Diagon Alley, and his last few weeks with his friends, he tried to think to himself that he could defeat Voldemort, knowing still that he had little of a chance to do so.

They had returned to Gringotts, where Hagrid's booming voice greeted them. Though it was wonderful for Harry to meet Hagrid again, he still had this lurking feeling, remembering that the reason he had such wealth in the first place was because his parents had been murdered by Voldemort, and their gold had been left to Harry.

After Gringotts they all met up with Hermione and her parents, out in front of Eylopes Owl Emporium. Harry was greeted by a friendly hug from Hermione, and a series of rants from her as well about the dangerous position he was in, and how he should lay low so as not to break any school rules. He tried to tell her that with Voldemort on the run, the school rules were the least he needed to worry about, but she just smiled and changed the subject.

After they had finished shopping, Harry's mind occasionally slipping into his thoughts to the point where he could barely focus on anything, they went to the Leaky Cauldron to spend the night, before they would have to return to Hogwarts again.

Everyone in the Leaky Cauldron either patted Harry on the back, or congratulated him on his stunning victories in Quiddich. Not one of them mentioned Voldemort, and it was as though they didn't really think that the final battle was going to happen any time soon.

Everyone seemed to think that, even with Dumbledore gone, there was still hope yet. Perhaps he had left something helpful behind, but all that was left was the useless locket, which was a fake after all. It was just a way to get Dumbledore out of Hogwarts, and it had worked, though only Harry knew about it. Many people would have thought that Dumbledore would have known about Voldemort's plan to begin with, and would have had a backup plan himself, but only Harry knew that, with Dumbledore gone, there was no hope left...


End file.
